One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Novel, Book 1

You’ve lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car’s been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month’s rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do? If you’re Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man that took her virginity....

The Heist: A Novel

FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world’s most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years the only name she’s cared about is Nicolas Fox - an international crook she wants in more ways than one.

Curious Minds

Emerson Knight is introverted and eccentric and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he's also brilliant, rich and (some people might say) handsome. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard. Her assertive (some people might say aggressive) spitfire attitude has helped her land a dream job at Blane-Grunwald bank. At least Riley Moon thinks it's her dream job until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight.

Love in a Nutshell

Kate Appleton needs a job. Her husband has left her, she's been fired from her position as a magazine editor, and the only place she wants to go is to her parents' summer house, The Nutshell, in Keene's Harbor, Michigan. Kate's plan is to turn The Nutshell into a Bed and Breakfast. Problem is, she needs cash and the only job she can land is less than savory. Matt Culhane wants Kate to spy on his brewery employees.

Metro Girl

Buckle your seat belts. New York Times best-selling author Janet Evanovich is moving into the fast lane with Metro Girl, a thrilling, high-octane misadventure with high stakes, hot nights, cold-blooded murder, sunken treasure, a woman with a chassis built for speed, and one very good, very sexy NASCAR driver who's along for the ride.

Hot Stuff

Cate Madigan isn't asking for trouble. Her wacky Irish family is constantly playing matchmaker for her with men who leave much to be desired. All she wants is peace and quiet and a nice place to live while she saves her money from tending bar in a lively Boston pub. So what if her roommate is a cross-dressing lounge singer named Marty Longfellow?

Publisher's Summary

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127, Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. And a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photo: Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist, Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately, the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the bail bonds agency, things are going from bad to worse. The bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii.

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is... it’s complicated.

After having given up on the series several books ago, I was persuaded to read #17 and thought that maybe things were back on track. Explosive Eighteen was a massive disappointment. After teasing the reader (for ages!) with hints about what happened in Hawaii, we get a brief (and unsatisfying) few lines to explain why the stagnant love triangle is still in place and then it's on to the rest of the convoluted storyline that seemed to drag on forever. In the past, even when I've been frustrated by the refusal to choose between Ranger & Joe, I've been able to appreciate the screwball comedy. This book lacked the laugh-out-loud moments that, for me, partially redeemed a few of the books beyond #9. In 18, I spent a lot of time feeling like I was waiting for a punchline that never arrived. Worse, still, is the fact that Joe & Ranger have been reduced to shadows of their former selves and neither one bears much resemblance to the alpha-types I knew and loved. They just seemed worn out and as tired of dealing with Stephanie as I am. I cannot for the life of me figure out what either man is supposed to find so irresistible about Stephanie that they would be willing to settle for whatever crumbs she's willing to give them. Even without being able to blame a "curse," Stephanie is still casually sleeping with both of them, willing to commit to neither of them and they just jump in and rescue her incompetent self over and over again. (IMO) It's not charming, it's not cute, it's not endearing and I spent most of the book being bored by the litany of junk food she consumes and wondering why she was so stupid that she allowed the same guy to steal her car over and over again.

Without totally giving away the ending, I will say that I thought it was a lame attempt to persuade readers that an actual choice might be in the making. I have made peace with the fact that as long as the books are selling, no choice will be made and the characters will continue to devolve until they just make an occasional appearance to yank her out of burning buildings with a "Babe!" or "Cupcake!" and not much else.

I don't think anyone expects literary genius from these books, but I sincerely miss the comedic spark, the genuinely funny situations, and the depth/heart that was present in the early books and lost along the way.

No, I would actually recommend the 15th in the series. First one I read and I almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard. I have purchased alot of her books hoping for a bit of a different twist but they are always the same. Wont buy anymore but I do love granny!

If you’ve listened to books by Janet Evanovich before, how does this one compare?

More of the same.

Have you listened to any of Lorelei King’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, Lorelei King is a terrific narrator- captures tones of books she reads. She is very good at the Evanovich ones.

Do you think Explosive Eighteen needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, not unless Stephanie makes up her mind about Moreley or Ranger- this triangle has gone on too long- OR introduce another guy that sweeps her off her feet.

Any additional comments?

Obviously she is a very popular author and if people want to read the same story over and over I say Go For it!

Please don't waist your money or your credit on Explosive Eighteen. The cliff hanger and tickler gave me great hope for this installment; however, who ever wrote this book, did not know about the cliff-hnager. What happened in Hawaii took maybe 5 sentences.

Explosive Eighteen closes the casket on Stephine Plum in such a way that evey Grandma Mazur wouldn't care to look.

I love all the Stephanie Plum books. The earlier ones were better, but once a fan, always a fan. Lula, Ranger, Grandma Mazur, Stephanie, Connie, they're all there and Lorelei King does an ever amazing job. If I were to read these books, I would hear her interpretation of the characters and be forever happy about that. She has amazing range for her characterizations. If I weren't such an avid fan, I don't know that I would give it four stars overall. So if you are a fan, enjoy. BTW, you can not start here if you have never read Stephanie Plum book. You HAVE to start at number one and work your way up.